Study: Most Common Breast-Cancer Surgery Often Repeated

Unclear guidelines are partly to blame for second lumpectomies, researchers say.

by Lesley Kennedy • MORE.com Reporter

As if undergoing a lumpectomy weren’t enough, a new study shows that 22.9 percent of women who had one had a second, and almost half the time it probably didn’t do any good, the New York Times reports.

The most common breast-cancer operation is often performed twice, in part because of uncertainty when it comes to guidelines, according to the newspaper.

The study also notes that 14 percent of patients actually did stillshow signs of cancer after their first surgery but did not receive an additional one, the Times adds.

“It is getting to be the time for leaders in radiation oncology and surgery to get together and make a consensus statement that could help to guide their membership,” Dr. Monica Morrow, chief of breast surgery at New York’s Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, tells the Times.Click here to read the full story.